PERSONAL NOTES.

Otago Witness, Issue 2810, 22 January 1908, Page 90

PERSONAL NOTES.

Remarkably enough, lord Charles Beresford himself, on one occasion, figured in a signalling' incident tvhich caused a good deal of talk. On the day of Queen Victoria's naval review in 1887, Lord Charles was in the position of Sir Percy /Scott, and as flag officer had to signal the 'fleet. The manoeuvres had been prolonged, and late in the afternoon all eyes were turned on Sir Charles's ship as a signal went up. It was nothing more momentous than a mesage to his wife, Lady Beresford, to the effect that as he should be late for dinner she was not to wait. Beyond the hilarity evoked by the signalling of such a domestic detail, nothing more would have been heard of the matter had not' the special correspondent of the. Times heard' of the incident. The next morning that newspaper contained a full and humorous rep<Mt»of the incident. Then there was trouble. — Lord Methuen has a soldier's record that will appear in history. But he has_ also sdven proof of signal bravery in private life/ is a well-read man, and one of the j-Hliest German scholars in the British army. I He once served as Military Attache in Bor1 ]in, and during his stay there he saved the lifp of a would-be suicide from drowning. For this act the German Emperor presented him with a medal on the occasion of a State ball, and in the presence of a brilliant assemblage. Later on Lord Methune svas selected to present the Emperor of Austria with his Field-marshal's riaton. Corsham Court, his place in "Wilt shire, is a fine Elizabethan house, and dates from 1582. The park is famed for its cedars and olanes, which are said to be the t largest in England. \

—It is extremely doubtful if there is another peer in the United Kingdom who has crowded into his life so many interests and occupations as Charles Henry John Talbot, the twentieth Earl of Shrewsbury., who has just been entertaining the >Kinsj. As a sportsman his lordship is one of the most enthusiastic and ardent, while as a; business man he is one of the most energetic and keen. He was the first man to* start jabs fitted with noiseless tyres .'in, London and Paris. For some time he has interested himself largely in the motor-car industry of the country. During, a recent interview he stated that he was extremely-, fond of motoring, and felt "as much aft : home behind tha steering, gear of an auto*' mobile as I do upon the back of my favourite horse." Business prevents the Earl from) indulging in his favourite recreations — coaching and hunting — quite' as much a3 formerly, and he confessed that he missed many runs with the Cheshire hounds. "But' I do as much coaching and polo-playing as I can possiWy find time for. I am still a playing member of the chief polo clubs, and the fact that I have become an enthusiastic convert to the motor has by no means changed my love for horses." ■ , -.Mr Plowdeny the popular London? magistrate who is conducting the, Dfuee perjury case, has one oonipl&int to maka against the 'members of the preesT They, have burdened him, he says, with the reputation of being si- humourist, ' when reallyi he has never had the slightest- pretension/ to thai \ distinction. - "Often," Mr, Plowdenf has plaintively confessed, "I- have , sat. on. the • bench; suffering- from 'a,' violent ,headache or an attack of neuralgia, jn;a mccl; melancholy frame of mind, have been/ amazed, when I opened my^newspaper the following- morning, to find some of my remarks headed, 'More Funny ' Plowdenisms' !'* The unkindest cut of all, however, according to Mr Plowden, was when a certain newspaper boomed him as a national peacemaker. It was at a time when England was drawn into rather a serious misunderstanding with other nations, 'and Mr Plowden was astonished one day to find blazoned over London, "Plowden on Peace." "I_waa riding in an omnibus."- said Mr Plowden, "when I_ first saw this on the placard of. an evening paner. What had I done?i What had I said on peace? I was mightily puzzled till, arriving at nay club,, I seized! the evening paper and saw' it had reference to a case before me that day. It_ was 1 quite an unimportant case. Two sisters had 1 quarrelled over a dead rabbit. I had advocated peace." ■ ■- '■' — Lord Cromer, owes much of his great success in life to his remarkable "power of always getting to - the bottom of things ; nothing escapes him which .".concerns his affairs and those of. .the ountr'y or peopla of which he has' the conduct. An illuminative anecdote appeared a few. months ago illustrative of his capacity in this respect. While he was. in' Egypt, -he, received one day a report from', one of his principal officials, which commented severely; on the work of a subordinate — a youngi lady- — and recomnJended , her dismiesal^ Many, Governors would have adopted such a report without question, and would "have unhesitatingly acted upon their underling's advice in so comparatively .trivial i .matter. Jsot.so, however, Lord Cromer. 'cHe-* wa&_ not the man to" 1 lightly 'ruin the- prospects in life of a lady clerk. He found! jtime, in the course 'of. his busy official work to make inquiries about the girl," and learnt) thai, "she had been the subject of'thei^m.welcome attentions of the official in question, who, when repulsed, wrote with in j credible baseness an untrue report upon her actions. Needless "to say. .it was the - official and not the lady who was discharged. — London's Lord Mayors may. come and London's Lord Mayors may , go, but Sir, William Jameson JSouJsby, private secretary, at the Mansion House since 1875, goes .onf for ever — at least, the city hopes so. Foe 32 years Sir William has been tho real Lord Mayor of London. He has ,b"een, the> right hand of every man whoni the jpußlio has imagined To be holding the office during; these 32 years. Two or three hundred' people call at the Mansion House every day <x> see the Lord- Mayor, and Sir William, with that smiling courtesy which nobody, who has received it ever forgets, sends them all away— satisfied. Seven hundred* people send letters to the Lord Mayor every, 24 hours. Some are from lunatics insida asylums, and some from lunatics outside;', but none of them are cast aside as too meanf for attention. Sir William Soulsby has received more foreign potentates, perhaps, than any living Londoner. From the German Emperor and the Czar down ,to King 1 J cques of Sahara they com to the great City of London, and Sir William receives them with the concentrated courtesy of over 3D years of city life. — Journalist, soldier, man of business, moralist, and philosopher of the peripatetic school, Mr Frederic Abcrnethy Coleman is extraordinarily expressive of what in the way of a thousand years the worl3 has come to desire. He is the live American. Kind Fortune has given him the American brain, and the American energy, but she has denied him the American nerves and American digestion, so that, at the advanced age of 31, he can still take his joy of life. He is, too, of a blend of races and bloods which alone produces the genuine modern - American. On the side of his mother he is of a Scottish strain, a descendant of the famous Dr Abernethy ; on the side of. his father he is of an Irish stock. His father* a clergyman, a profound student oj3 Hebrew and Sanskrit, was a Northerner';) his mother was a Southerner; and both his grandfathers were born in the United' States. He entered journalism atSan Francisco. He was presently enlisted in the staff of the Examiner. His editor despatched hint to the Far East to describe for the Pacific slope the battles of the war between China and Japan. On his return he journeyed; in th<; service of his paper, to Central l America Honolulu, and the Klondyke. On! the outbreak of war between Spain andt America he was one of the first to volunteer, and went out to the Philippines. He helped to start an American paper with* Philippino compositors at Manila. Thenf: the Boxer outbreak in China suromonect him' to act as war correspondent with the' Pekin Expedition. Leaving China, he camel' to London, and put his pen at the service oE both Lord Northcliffe and Mr Lehmann.-s ''Jehu _ Junior," in Vanity" Fair. '" '

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